At East Stroudsburg University, 'silent' march protests impending cuts

Friday

Sep 20, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Student protesters at East Stroudsburg University on Thursday afternoon were clear in their message — they support their professors and they don't want the university to cut any programs in the face of budget shortfalls.

CHRIS REBER

Student protesters at East Stroudsburg University on Thursday afternoon were clear in their message — they support their professors and they don't want the university to cut any programs in the face of budget shortfalls.

"We basically want to preserve the integrity of all our programs here at ESU," said Rachel Roberts, a pre-med and biology major. "We've invested our money and our futures here."

About 40 protesters, many of them students in the College of Arts and Sciences, marched through the campus in silence Thursday.

The silence was in response to a directive from the Student Senate president to not discuss the cuts in the classroom, organizer Noemi Mirra said. Despite their silence, the group's signs carried powerful messages like "Program cuts = stifled creativity," "Not all cuts heal ESU," and "Our dreams aren't part of their budget."

ESU's board of trustees is set to approve a budget next week that students believe could cut faculty members, and even entire departments. University representatives have previously said they won't comment on cuts until the budget is adopted. Protesters said that lack of transparency has emboldened them to seek answers.

"We're hoping the administration will tell us the true blue facts and stop cutting around the edges," said Emily Fox, a marine science major.

Rumors of cuts have created an uproar particularly among students in science majors. They say they believe that faculty, and even whole majors, will be cut and replaced with online education.

"If our programs are going to get cut, we deserve to know about it," said Alyssa Carpenter, a biotechnology student.

Students and faculty who watched the protest said they had heard little about the proposed cuts, and even less about the protest.